Co-produced Jocelyn Arem (director of the Caffè Lena History Project) and three-time Grammy Award-winner Steve Rosenthal, the box set features a large number of previously unpublished photographs and extensive liner notes by Holly George-Warren, Robert Burke Warren, Scott Goldman and Michael Eck.

Here’s the complete press release from Tompkins Square:

Nestled in the quaint upstate town of Saratoga Springs, New York is Caffè Lena, the oldest continuously operating folk music coffeehouse in the US. Opened by Lena Spencer in 1960, this tiny room has played host to influential artists across diverse genres of music; traditional folk, blues, singer-songwriters, jazz and bluegrass. Luckily, many performances were caught on tape through the years, offering the listener
a thrilling seat inside this hallowed venue. Live At Caffè Lena: Music From America’s Legendary Coffeehouse, 1967-2013, a 3-CD box set, the result of years of investigative research, contains 47 tracks, all released for the very first time, alongside previously unpublished photographs. Images include
selections from the archive of esteemed photographer Joe Alper, who captured many iconic, intimate portraits from the folk era of the 1960s.

Live At Caffè Lena documents an important folk universe that was and is still happening in upstate New York, a story heretofore largely untold. The release of this collection comes at an auspicious time in light of renewed interest in the New York folk scene of the ’60s as depicted in the forthcoming Coen Brothers film, “Inside Llewyn Davis.” The film is loosely based on Dave Van Ronk’s 2005 memoir, “The Mayor of Macdougal Street.” Van Ronk, a Caffè Lena regular, served as a mentor to many artists, some who would go on to eclipse his fame. His 1974 recording of “Gaslight Rag” featured on the box set references the Gaslight Café, a famed Greenwich Village venue that along with Caffè Lena was a catalyst for the folk music revival.

Caffè Lena embodied the spirit of the folk boom, the era and its artistry, building a reputation as a hotbed of creativity and connection. It was also a safe haven and nurturing space for artists, its atmosphere cultivated personally by Lena Spencer herself. She would graciously house wayward artists, sometimes for months at a time. But she was not merely a host. She championed artists, from Bob Dylan as early as 1961 all the way through the ’80s until her passing. Her passion for identifying and promoting talent is evident throughout this 3-CD set. That Caffè Lena is still open for business tonight is a testament to her legacy.

‘Live At Caffè Lena’ is an important visual and audio document – 40+ years of our collective music history unearthed from dozens of “lost” tapes – night after night, show after show, through the decades – captured on tape in a tiny room in Saratoga Springs, New York.

AND: Here’s the complete track listing for Live At Caffè Lena: Music From America’s Legendary Coffeehouse, 1967-2013: